JE 'VIDA
by Karen Pecota

Katharine Gauriloff, Finland 2023

The first feature film in the Skolt Sámi language comes from Finnish filmmaker Katharine Gauriloff in JE 'VIDA, a story very personal to Gauriloff, who comes from the Finnish Skolt Sámi heritage. Her screenplay is based on true events from stories shared from her mother, and other relatives about their childhood of shocking events.

Similar stories told were of a whole generation of Sámi children following WWII who were forced to denounce their Sámi roots, language and culture. Aggressive policies of assimilation in Finland forced the Sámi people to be ashamed of their background. Their Skolt Sámi language became a lost art for generations.

Multitudes of Sámi children were forced into boarding schools taking them away from their accustomed life and values that were wholesome, loving and community oriented. The last of these institutions were closed down in the 1980s, with the Finnish state dismissing any mismanagement of the Sámi people and their way of life.

Gauriloff notes, "I myself belong to a generation that did not inherit Skolt Sámi as their mother tongue, due to the assimilation." Adding, "Despite the absence of language, I feel strongly Sámi, but still, from time to time, my identity and values are in a tumult between two worlds, as I now learn the Sámi language, traditions, and my family's former livelihood of fishing waters and net sites." JE'VIDA shares through fiction the impact of an unjust displacement of a culture and a hope for reconciliation of future generations.

Synopsis:

After the death of her sister, Je'vida and her niece, Sanna, meet for the first time on a road trip to a family property up for sale in Lapland. Je'vida is not the friendliest aunt, making it easy for Sanna to keep her distance while the two comb the deserted family grounds in preparation to empty the house.

Together they share the heritage of the Finnish Sámi people; but Je'vida is a hardened old woman, and Sanna, though younger, is far removed from the Sámi culture; but just as hardened from her own secrets.

Items found in the house captivate Sanna, longing to understand their significance. Je'vida sees only memories of her uprooted idyllic childhood before being forced to live far away from her loving family, and live her life under a different name, in order to deny her true identity.

The two slowly begin to take an interest in each other, learning more than they imagined of a painful heritage that connects them; and, to decide if there is hope to find a place in their Sámi history.